Friday's Letters

Happy Friday!!! 

Dear Brian... Thank you for being the amazing man that you are. You have turned my life around and I thank you every day for this. It's such a great feeling to look at you and feel so much love in my heart. Dear Amy Schumer... your stand-up is HILARIOUS, however, your show "Inside Amy Schumer" has disappointed us a little. You better be awesome tonight! Dear Taylor Swift... I cannot wait to "dance like I'm 22" at your concert tomorrow. For the most part, I have loved you since "Tim McGraw". You lost me there for a little while, but your newest album "Red" is amazing! Dear Bachelor/Bachelorette... why must you wait until next January to be on again?!? I'm certainly going to miss Monday night wine/Bachelor date nights. Dear weekend... you're gonna be a busy one. Here's hoping I can find some time to relax.  Also, if you have the chance please got here and vote for Tanya. I've known this family most of my life. They are an amazing family and have endured many hardships and losses. Tanya definitely deserves this vacation. It only takes a minute of your time. Thanks! 

Doggie Vacation

Happy Friday!!! 
Brian and I are leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Atlanta. Brian has work meetings there, so I figured I would go along for the ride. More on that next week, this is about Peanut's vacation. 
Anyway, I had been stressing out trying to decide what we were going to do with Peanut. He's a little spoiled and has never been boarded. He usually stays with family or friends when we go out of town. I just can't imagine dropping him off somewhere not knowing if he's going to get much affection and playtime and possibly be in a crate most of the time. This dog has been like my child since I got him 5 years ago, I just couldn't do that to the little guy. Since we didn't really have anywhere else to take him, I reluctantly started looking at boarding places. All of the boarding places that I thought seemed decent were ridiculously expensive. I was getting really upset about the whole boarding thing when I came across a website called DogVacay. You put in your location and the dates you will be leaving your dog and it pulls up a list of dog sitters that will watch your dog in their home during that time. I was a little skeptic of this at first, but the more I thought about it I liked this idea WAY better than boarding. The sitters talk a little about themselves and how your dog will be spending its time there. I searched through quite a few listings and finally found someone who got glowing reviews, was available this weekend and only takes dogs under 25 pounds. We emailed back and forth a few times and I finally felt comfortable enough to go ahead and make the reservation. We drop Peanut off this evening and drop him off Tuesday evening. His sitter has a dog of her own and will be watching two other dogs, so it will be a little puppy party for Peanut. I'm so nervous leaving him with someone I don't know, but I am confident that he will be in good hands. 
His sitter asked for a list of some things about Peanut and this is what I made to give to her. 

Peanut

Chocolate Miniature Dachshund

5 years old

Mommy: Lindsay 

Daddy: Brian 

Brother: Chance (Schipperke mix)

Food: ¼ cup twice per day

Potty breaks: Morning, late afternoon and before bed

1.)   Peanut LOVES to cuddle. He’s definitely a lap dog and is happiest curled up right beside you under a blanket.

2.)   He is very affectionate and LOVES giving kisses!

3.)    His favorite game is fetch. He will chase the ball as long as you keep throwing it to him.

4.)   He might be a little guy, but he will make it his mission to get the squeaker out of a toy in 15 minutes or less.

5.)   He’s very friendly and loves playing with other dogs.

6.)   He is a little explorer. He loves to sniff and mark every tree, flower, piece of grass, etc that you come across.

7.)   He loves mommy and daddy and will probably sit at the door for a little while waiting for them to come back.

8.)   He likes to work on his tan in the morning. He will find any little sliver of sunlight he can to lay in.

9.)   He is protective and gives a little growl and barks when he hears doors open, knocking, doorbells, etc. We tell him “no barking”, so feel free to let him know it’s not ok to bark.

10.) He loves treats and can sit up and roll over if he knows a treat is coming his way. He’s not too good with “sit” though.

11.) One of his favorite things is having his head scratched.

This is our first time ever leaving Peanut with someone we don’t know, but we know he’s going to have a great time with you and the rest of the pups. Thank you so much for opening up your home and taking the time to care for him. We are confident that he will be in good hands and might not even want to come home when we pick him up. Thanks again for letting Peanut join the puppy party!!! We will be back to Tuesday evening to pick him up from his vacation. 

Happy weekend!!! I'll be back next week with a full recap of our (and Peanut's) mini-vacay!

Weekend Update

Is it really Monday again already?! Boooooo!!!! 

This weekend was such a great weekend! I am so sad it had to end!!! 
Friday, we went to Wasabi Cafe with some of our favorite people, Sheyla and Brian. We filled ourselves full of sushi and thai food, drank way too much a little wine and toasted to Maash Boutique having over 300 followers on FB. Speaking of Maash Boutique, if you don't like this boutique on FB you totally should! Such cute stuff and very affordable!  We always have such a great time with Sheyla and Brian and always look forward to the next time we all get to hang out. 

 It's a Bri-mance

Love her!!! 
Saturday, I stopped by Maash to do a little shopping then Brian and I headed to Costco to pick up some things. That night, we made a seafood feast of lobster, shrimp, scallops and veggies. It was soooooo good and less than half the price we would have spent going to a restaurant (thank you Costco). I love date nights at home!!! 

Sunday, we went to Brian's nephews 11th birthday party. It was supposed to be a pool party, but Mother Nature decided it should only be about 65. Of course, the kids still got in the pool and had a blast. I, on the other hand, pretended I was 10 years old again and had too much fun doing back handsprings and tucks on the trampoline. Note to self: You are not 10 years old anymore, you will be VERY sore the next day!!! 

I hope you all had a great weekend too!!! 

Friday... Oh how I love thee

Friday... I seriously love you! Where have you been all my life?! 

For some reason, I have been over this work week since Monday. It's been a busy week and I'm exhausted!!! 
Monday, I went to my first Chicago White Sox game. We lost, but it was still really fun! At least the two runs we scored were home runs, so I got to see some fireworks (and we had great seats). 

Tuesday, we went to Goose Island brewpub for dinner and drinks with Brian's sisters and their significant others. It was a great time! We are quite the rowdy bunch! At one point, Brian threw his sister's sock across the room. Yes, we are those people! 
Wednesday, I had a work happy hour at ZED451. I am pretty much in love with that place now! The ambiance was so cool, the appetizers were amazing and the drinks were delicious! Also, I have the best co-workers, so it was really fun getting to hang out with them outside of the office. 
Thursday, I was very productive after work. I cleaned the apartment, went to a super fun fitness class called WERQ and did laundry. 
Tonight, we have dinner with one of our favorite couples at Wasabi Cafe. It's All You Can Eat sushi for $20.95 and BYOB, what more can you ask for? 
I've been super motivated to workout since getting my Polar FT4 watch, but more on that next week! 
How was your week?  What are your plans for the weekend? 

Motivation....

Guys, I really need some motivation to start working out and eating healthier. I decided last November that I really needed to get back in shape and start eating healthier and man was I doing AWESOME! I was working out every day, counting calories, I went gluten free for awhile, was eating clean and boy was I seeing results. I was really starting to love the way I looked and felt. And then BAM... I don't know what happened, but I just completely fell off the healthier living wagon! 
I think this is something that many women struggle with. We are programmed to believe that we should look a certain way. The question is, how do we deal with it? How do we overcome these struggles? I think one of the main things is we need to learn to love our bodies and stop comparing ourselves to others (I know that's A LOT easier said than done). It's so easy to look at someone and think, "Ugh... I would love to have her legs" or "I would love to be as skinny as she is". What we don't realize is that person is probably looking at you or someone else and thinking the exact same thing. Having a workout buddy, someone that holds you accountable and really pushes you, is a great way to stay motivated. Another thing is meal planning, plan out your weekly meals every Sunday and really try to stick with the menu. Also, get new workout gear. There's something about having a new tank top, sports bra, pair of yoga pants, running shoes, etc that really seems to motivate us (at least for awhile).  
I just got the Polar FT4 heart rate monitor/calorie burner counter from amazon and am really hoping that actually seeing how many calories I've burned helps keep me motivated. I'm really excited to hit the gym and try it out. Brian and I are also going to go through some healthy/clean eating recipes this weekend and make a menu for next week. Now, I just need a motivational buddy or buddies. Who wants to take on this challenge? 

What are some of your favorite healthy recipes? How do you stay motivated? 
Happy Thursday!!! 

Blog Love

Happy Tuesday!!! 
Notice any changes? Thanks to my bloggy bestie, Stephanie, I have a brand new design!!! Didn't she do a great job?! 
Do you follow Stephanie and her adorable dog Walter at Drink On It? If not, you totally should! This girl is HILARIOUS! We've spent many days/nights texting and tweeting and our new thing is snapchatting every single thing that we do. Go follow her and read about her love of adult beverages, how she rocks the single life and Walter even throws in what he's been up to on Thursdays. 

While you're checking out blogs, head on over and check out new blogger, Cam, at Sincerely, Cam. She's a complete sweetheart, totally adorable and has great style. Follow her to read about life with her fiance and her love of fashion. 

  What are some of your favorite blogs to read? 

Things I've learned about this city

I've been in Chicago a little over six months now and I absolutely LOVE it here!!! I feel at home here and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. A couple weeks ago, I was looking for some shoes to wear with a dress and realized that there is TONS of shopping only a few blocks from my work. Score!!! That day, I said to Brian, "I don't see how anyone could come to Chicago and not fall in love with this city!" 

Here are a few things I've learned about Chicago so far: 

1. When walking around downtown, you can definitely tell who is going to work. 

People going to work are in a BIG hurry! They are rushing around the city, usually with a coffee in hand. I'm sad to admit that I'm one of those people. 

2. There's a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks on EVERY corner. 

I saw this at DD the other day and it made me laugh. Brian is a Dunkin Donuts fan and I'm more of a Starbucks fan. To be honest, I'm pretty much just a fan of coffee in general. 

3. Chicago LOVES it's festivals. Music fests, beer fests, food fests, etc... 

There is at least one festival going on EVERY weekend during the summer. We went to the American Beer Classic in May and tried a lot a few beers. It was a blast!  There's a Burger festival in Roscoe Village this weekend that I'm gonna try to talk Brian into going to. 

4. The food here is AMAZING!!! 

There are so many great restaurants in Chicago. My favorite breakfast place is Little Goat. Fat Elvis Waffles, need I say more?! One of my favorite lunch places downtown is Jason's deli. The food is delicious and you get FREE ice cream!!! So far, my favorite place we've had dinner is Mercadito. Amazing food and yummy margaritas!!! 

5. Chicago LOVES its sports teams! 

The Bulls, the Bears, the Blackhawks, the Cubs, the White Sox.... and you must be a fan! We live about a mile from Wrigley, but Brian HATES the Cubs. He's a big Sox fan and is trying to make me one too. I'm going to my first Sox game in a little over a week and I'm super excited. I went to my first Bulls game last season and had a blast! Hopefully, I will get to go to a Blackhawks game next season. 

These are just a few of the things I've learned about the great city of Chicago so far. I'm sure I'll have many more discoveries to share the longer I live here. 

Do you live in/near Chicago?

Have you been to Chicago?

If so, what are some of your favorite things about the city? 

Happy Friday!!!